Saturday, January 4, 2014

I'm not a
resolution-maker myself. I never have been. I am a constant learner though, and
I always try to be a wiser person, lend a hand, cook new cuisines, try new
ingredients and challenge my baking skills on a daily basis.

I think
the key is to constantly challenge yourself in little ways and make long-term
goals rather than make a big abrupt announcement once a year. I may not succeed
each and every time, but at least it keeps me on my toes!

This
incredibly rich and son of chocolate cake is a stellar way to start off the
year in my books.

First
you'll be surprised at how easy it is to make.

Then
you'll be surprised at how much remains in the pan after you’ve picked up the
spoon.

Do not reach for a spoon while the cake is in the pan! This is what I call machine gun spooning – it fires uncontrollably
and before you know it, the cake has been attacked. It’s a disaster. Just put
away the weapon. It’s the only case where a knife is safer than a spoon. So, grab
a knife, cut out a reasonable slice, sit down with a cup of tea and don’t eat
from the pan. I warned you.

Don’t
mistake this rich dense chocolatey cake for a brownie, because you know I would
never put frosting on a brownie. Never.

But this
cake, this cake needs this frosting.
There’s coconut milk inside and on top. In the cake it comes through so subtly
that you might not even notice it there, but in the ganache it is brilliant.

Ganache
is a silky smooth combination of two ingredients: cream and chocolate. In this
case we use coconut cream and the result is luscious. The high melting point of
the fat fraction in coconut cream means that it requires more energy to melt
when it lands on your tongue. This use of energy (heat) means that your mouth
will actually cool down as you’re eating, creating an icy effect! Remember Icy
Squares? Those square-shaped chocolates wrapped in different colours & gold
foil sold in a plastic cylinder? Those were full of hydrogenated fat and I was
shamefully addicted.

Coconut
milk is a great addition to your baking repertoire. There is something that you
need to know about it first… Like dairy, it comes as “milk” and “cream”.

Cream has
a higher fat content than milk and you know this by reading the total fat per
100g listed on the nutritional panel on the label. The best quality coconut
milks and creams have the highest fat content, period. The rest is water, sugar
and sometimes thickeners and flavour extracts.

For this
recipe you want thick cream, especially for the ganache. Now, you can get this
from a can of coconut cream, but you can also use coconut milk. That’s because
coconut milk is not homogenized like dairy milk is and this means that it
separates on standing, forming two layers: the fat floats to the top (it is
less dense than water) and the water sinks to the bottom. If all you have is a
can of coconut milk then you can scrape off the top creamy bit and use that for
this recipe. Just don’t shake the can!

What is homogenization? A process where milkfat globules in
dairy milk are physically broken down under high pressure to form very small droplets that
become individually suspended in the liquid to form a uniform emulsion and are less prone to separating
out.

So Happy
New Year my dear friends!

I hope
you bake 16.4% more than last year, share 50.6% more and smile as often as you
can.

Preheat your oven to 325°F/165°C. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan
with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan with 1 inch
of simmering water, melt butter and chocolate together. Remove bowl from over the
saucepan and stir in sugar followed by the egg until smooth.

If using a can of coconut milk, open the can (do not shake)
and spoon off only the top portion which is the creamy bit. Do not use the
clear liquid underneath. Stir this coconut cream and vanilla extract into the
chocolate batter. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt
and baking powder and then stir it into the wet mixture until well
combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester
comes out mostly clean with a few sticky bits attached, about 35 minutes.
Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is baking, make the frosting by heating the
coconut cream in a small saucepan over low heat until it comes to a boil. Add
chopped chocolate and let stand 3 minutes. Stir until smooth and glossy. Place
the pan over very low heat and stir constantly if necessary to melt any pieces
of solid chocolate. Let cool until spreading consistency, about 30 minutes, and
then spread over cooled cake.

19 comments:

So excited to have found this recipe - it looks properly amazing, and because it is coconut milk based, has very little cows milk dairy in it - I reckon I can substitute the butter to suit dietary limitations :-) Think I might find myself making this tomorrow night to take to visit friends at the weekend - thanks for sharing!

I also got here from foodgawker and this cake and especially that ganache is on my must make list now! My b/f put a Zero bar in my stocking this year and I've been craving that icy type of chocolate ever since. Thank you, this looks amazing and I've bookmarked it.

I made this for my birthday yesterday! I wanted something delicious, fudgy and simple and this looked perfect - and it was! We all loved it; the hint of coconut was fabulous and it was just the right fudginess. It even tastes great straight from the refrigerator! Thanks for sharing! :)

It looks extremely delicious!! I wanna make it today , I just have a little problem with the coconut , i really don't like it , would you please tell how much heavy cream can i use instead of it , and if i can use some other flavors like Vanilla or something else .. Thank you ^^

Hi, I was trying to find out the difference between coconut butter and coconut cream but I didn't find any useful info. In this recipe, can I use homemade coconut butter (blending coconut flakes/shreds for about 20 minutes in a blender/food processor)? I can't find "coconut cream" to buy anywhere in a city (I am from Slovakia)... Thank you for an answer, this cake really looks delicious!

Hi! To make coconut cream, do exactly as you described for the homemade coconut butter but add some water while you are blending. Then, pour it through a fine mesh or cheese cloth to remove the coconut fibers.